i can do anything i want, pretend to be anything i want. did you ever hear the phrase caveat emptor, buyer beware? that's "hardball" for now. thank you for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans, welcome to "the ed show" from new york. five days until the 2012 election. mitt romney's campaign needs some disaster relief. because he's desperate. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> we need a vision that says, we don't just look out for ourselves. we look out for one another. we look out for future generations. and we meet those obligations by working together. >> the president takes the high road on the stump. mitt romney continues the campaign of deceit. >> mitt romney. >> tonight, karen finney on the closing arguments. the uaw's bob king on the new charges that mitt romney profiteered from the auto rescue. the secretary, versus the

decider on the campaign trail with michael tomasky. >> can't get fooled again. >> with the east coast still reeling from the devastation of hurricane sandy, stories of heroism are coming out of the wordwo woodwork. tonight, one of the nurses who helped save the lives of four babies during the hurricane. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. residents on the east coast are trying to get their lives back as the cleanup and recovery from sandy continues. thousands of commuters lined up in brooklyn for free buses into manhattan today. of course, getting to the bus was only half the battle. traffic is still tied up in knots. new york mayor, new york's three major airports reopened. this was the first flight to land at laguardia since the storm hit. cars lined up for miles along the new jersey highway to get gasoline. governor chris christie says officials requested emergency supplies of gasoline and fuel from the federal government.

there have been 92 reported deaths related to this storm in the united states. the department of energy says more than 4 million customers still have no power. nearly 2 million of those households are in the state of new jersey. utility workers are coming in from all over. exactly from 12 states. they are headed to new jersey to assist in repairs. the national guard is increasing its response to the storm. reinforcements were sent to new york and new jersey to double the recovery efforts. now, while people are picking up the pieces of their shattered lives, the presidential campaign is back in full swing. if you want to know where this election will be decided, just watch where the candidates go. mitt romney made three campaign appearances in the state of virginia today. president obama jumped all over the place from wisconsin to nevada, to colorado. both candidates are making their closing arguments. interesting. a closing argument. what is mitt romney's closing argument? his latest incarnation is that he's the guy who reaches across

the aisle? >> we have to stop the dividing and the attacking and the demonizing. we've got to reach across the aisle, bring in good democrats with good republicans and finally do the people's business and put the politics behind. >> we just need to stop demonizing, don't we? well, old mittster, show leadership and pick up the phone and call mitch mcconnell. it's interesting for mitt romney to present himself as a guy who works across the aisle while president obama is being label by the tea partyers and everybody else in the right wing as nothing but the divider in chief. romney might want to pick up the phone, you know, give this guy a call, keynote speaker of the republican convention. governor christie spent the last four days praising the president of the united states in his partnership in storm preparation and response to the disaster. president obama passed, i think, the reach across the aisle test with flying colors. don't you think? the president spoke about his

unified goal during a campaign stop in green bay. >> when disaster strikes, we see america at its best. all the petty differences that consume us in normal times all seem to melt away. there are no democrats or republicans during a storm. they're just fellow americans. leaders of different parties working to fix what's broken. neighbors helping neighbors cope with tragedy. communities rallying to rebuild. a spirit that says, in the end, we're all in this together. >> when you have a willing partner, you can get things done. all americans are willing partners in this storm aftermath. i mean, we can see it every single day, can't we? we are reminded with every picture on display just how devastating the damage is, and then we put ourselves in the place of those people and say, holy smokes. people feel the sadness and every time they turn on their

television, they get another story about how rough it's going to be for fellow americans. you know, there has been a storm in washington for the past four years. people couldn't see it, just by turning on the tv, but they hear about it. we have a continuing financial crisis in this country, and the republican obstructionists, well, they refuse to help. president obama came into office with a crisis on the scale of this current natural disaster. it required a heavy lift. from all players to get america back on track. republicans, where were they? well, they were not willing participants. journalist michael grunwald wrote, "vice president joe biden was warned not to expect any bipartisan cooperation on major votes. biden said, i spoke to seven different republican senators who said, joe, i'm not going to be able to help you on anything." his informants said senate minority leader mitch mcconnell had demanded unified resistance. the way it was characterized to

me was for the next two years we can't let you succeed in anything. that's our ticket to coming back. what if we took that attitude right there to the storm damage and cleanup? now mitt romney said he's the guy who can reach across the aisle? not according to the most influential in washington, grover norquist. according to norquist, mitt romney is not supposed to do anything except what the republicans tell him to. >> we don't need a president to tell us what direction to go. we know what direction we want to go. we want the paul ryan budget which cuts spending $6 trillion. the republicans in the house passed 24-plus bills that create jobs and opportunity and strip out regulations. we just need a president to sign this stuff. we don't need someone to think it up or design it.

we have a house and a senate. the leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the house and the sfat. >> so what he's saying is all they really need is a waffler in chief. this is the republican vision for american leadership. do it our way and that's it. they reject any attempt to stimulate the economy or pass legislation to help create jobs in this country. they openly brag about that, you know, their plan is to make president obama a one-term president. they kill compromise deals, brokered between democrats and republicans. this is the party mitt romney will lead if he's president. he won't reach across the aisle. he'll turn his back on the folks on the other side of the aisle. and it will be more of the same. mitt romney has no plan for taxes. he can't be direct on that. he has no plan when it comes to repealing obama care and what he's going to replace it with. and what about immigration? which in these last few weeks hasn't gotten a whole lot of attention. he has no plan for america.

and now he's going to be the guy who's going to reach across the aisle? get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. who do you trust to work with the other side? text "a" for president obama, text "b" to mitt romney to 622639. always to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. joining me tonight, karen finney, msnbc political analyst and former communications director of the dnc. karen, good to have you with us tonight. >> good to see you, ed. >> this is -- this is a rather interesting closing argument that mitt romney is making that he's going to be the guy that's going to reach across the aisle. when that really is the last thing his party wants him to do. how's this going to work out? >> also you know what, ed, i think is so interesting, i feel like we're back where we start in some ways. because here you have president obama, sandy has put in very clear relief, what is the role of government? we don't leave anybody behind. there's no red, no blue. there's one america. right? some of the very same messages,

very same things we've heard the president talking about from the begins. where is mitt romney? right back where he started refusing to answer questions. refusing to answer very fair questions. how can we believe he's going to work across the aisle when he won't tell us and/or explain to us his position on fema, just like he wouldn't talk to us about his tax record? i find it interesting t thematically we're back where we started. when voters are asking themselves, who can you trust, to your question, look no further than what the themes have been throughout this election. >> the republicans over the last decade have proven to the american people they are not about compromise. >> right. >> they are about power. and the democrats now are in pretty good shape to, i think, hang on to the senate and president obama's re-election looks pretty good right now. if it was a closing argument, what do you think the best closing argument would be for mitt romney right now? i mean, is reaching across the aisle, or should he seriously advocate for some policy that he hasn't been definitive on?

>> you know, i think what he's trying to do, he's kind of gone small. this is, he's back to sort of the strategy he had during the republican primary, which is, he just doesn't want to make a mistake. he's trying to run down the clock. >> no interviews. >> that's right. >> i have never seen anything like this. that a guy who wants to be president of the united states has got a media blackout. what else do you major events happening he won't answer any questions but will send his staff to walmart to buy goods to use at an event. what is that? mitt romney's closing argument i think is, i'm just going to try to not make a mistake between now and the election so i'm not going to take any questions, i'm not going to do any interviews. that's not really much of a closing argument message. and, again, think about where president obama is. he's the adult in the room, right? he's the guy who has said from the beginning, i'm here, i'm ready to work with you. he took a lot of heat from the left. you and i both, ed, are people who, you know, it kind of hit him hard a few times. he said, look, i'm going to work with you guys.

then push comes to shove. we're in the middle of a crisis. he's there. he's the guy seen doing the job, calm leadership, getting it done. >> all right. of course, big question about romney is where does he stand on fema? they did release a statement today. >> oh, good. >> and this is it. "i believe that fema plays a key role in working with states and localities to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. as president i will ensure fema has the funding it needs to fulfill its mission, while directing maximum resources to the first responders who work tirelessly to help those in need because states and localities are in the best position to get aid to the individuals in communities affected by natural disasters." i tell you what, it just doesn't get any deeper than that, does it? here's what the american people want to know. are you going to keep fema? i guess judging from that answer there's going to be at least a few people in the front office at fema that might make sure some money gets to the states. how do you read it? >> i also think, though, it's not just a question of -- think

of how carefully parched that whole statement is. remember that under president obama, like under president bill clinton, part of what has made fema so effective is the ability to have the resources in the bank, to have the resources, to get those resources ahead of the storm. because part of the problem is once the storm hits and you're trying to move resources in then you're behind the 8 ball. part of ryan budget, frankly, if we believe that's the approach romney would take says, no, no, you have to come back to us after a storm hits and get the resources you need. that's inefficient and we know that's inefficient. >> of course, we'll get the conversation of the off sets. >> of course. >> that means we have to take -- >> middle class americans. as you've been pointing out, all of a sudden he's nice to first responders when he wasn't so hot on them when we had real labor issues, was he? >> not at all. karen finney, great to have you on "the ed show." thanks so much. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow and on facebook. coming up, a down and dirty ad from the romney campaign in

florida because it's getting desperate. the miami-dade democratic party joins me with just how this is playing out in florida. or that you had to print from your desk. at least, nobody said it to us. introducing the business smart inkjet all-in-one series from brother. easy to use, it's the ultimate combination of speed, small size, and low-cost printing.

coming up, with only five days to go before the election mitt romney turns to the kitchen sink strategy and unloads every lie he's got in the pantry. we'll have the details coming up. then the united autoworkers file an ethics complaint in order to learn more about mitt romney's investments and profits that he made during the automobile loan. we'll visit with uaw president bob king. and during the height of the hurricane sandy, nurses at nyu's langone medical center worked tirelessly to save newborn babies. one of those nurses will join me later to share her experience. and you can share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using #edshow. we're coming right back. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms

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welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. with each passing day the romney campaign is really getting more desperate. so it's unleashing more false, outrageous ads. for romney, i guess you can say it's kitchen sink time. romney has a new ad criticizing president obama's suggestion to create a new secretary of business. the ad says that "we don't need another bureaucrat," but president obama wants to consolidate the work of nine government agencies to create one-shop stop for business in america. he is not trying to grow the bureaucracy. romney has another new ad accusing president obama of gutting welfare to work requirements. it was a lie the first three

times and it's still a lie. romney's disgraceful jeep ad is still running despite scratching, scathing criticism from ohio newspapers. the obama campaign has countered with a new ad in ohio and michigan. >> gm calls romney's ads politics at its cynical worst. and chrysler's ceo said it's simply not true. we know the truth, mitt. >> that's exactly what i said. the headline you read which is let detroit go bankrupt. >> when romney airs these grossly false ads, it opens up the door obviously for the obama campaign to hit back hard. in the state of florida it actually gets worse. romney desperately needs to win the state of florida and he is running a spanish language ad meant to stoke the fears of cuban-americans. the ad tries to connect president obama to venezuelan president hugo chavez and fidel

castro. "the miami herald" reports the romney campaign would not furnish the ad despite repeated requests. in other words, the ad is so outrageous, the romney campaign tried to slip it under the radar. obviously the strategy is backfiring. let's turn to annette taddeo, member of the miami-dade democratic party. annette, great to have you with us tonight. i keep saying the bread basket to victory for president obama is going to be south florida. turnout is to important. but now this spanish language ad that's out, what is this doing to stroke the fears and the emotions of people down in that portion of the state? >> well, it just -- i think mitt romney is finally just getting absolutely desperate. it is him learning a little bit of -- him realizing he cannot win, just like you said, without florida, and this is absolutely

desperate at its worse. i can tell you, here in florida this is not going to work. cuban-americans, only the old ones are really, the elderly ones, are the ones that are turning out to vote for him in big numbers. but the younger ones don't really want to hear about what chavez says. we know that whatever comes out of his mouth we don't pay attention to it anyway. and the hispanics that are not of cuban descent certainly don't care about what chavez says and know that president obama can't control that. so we are not turned on by this ad at all. we're actually turned off by this kind of advertising. we want to hear about the economy. we want to hear about jobs. we want to hear about that we're going to get health care instead of having to go to the, you know, to the e.r. to get our health care. >> there are estimates romney would have to win 40% of the latino vote to carry florida. so he's going to have to, i guess he's going down and dirty

to increase those numbers. you're saying there's no way it's going to work. >> well, he's obviously, what i mean by he's paying attention to -- is because, look, on the first day of early voting, we, the democrats, actually turned out so many people, and we have every day consistently, that we actually surpassed our 2008 numbers. so it was so shocking to them to see, after telling everybody, oh, we have no momentum, our people are not excited, and yet we have people standing out in lines for three hours. >> yeah. >> waiting to vote right here in south florida which is our heavy, heavy voting area. >> annette, if you were to break out the state, the panhandle pretty much republican. the middle of the state. how is that going to go? i mean, i think we can make the conclusion that south florida is going to be a real good place for president obama. what about the middle of the state? >> well, the middle of the state as well, and we have to remember that there's a huge influx of

puerto ricans in the middle of the state. and other non-cuban hispanics. so to pull this cuban ad or try to pull out the cuban vote is really desperate because now the majority of hispanics in florida are non-cubans. and so they are -- they're back in i don't know what year. again, he's going backwards. we're moving forward. so they don't even get the hispanic community. obviously. because this is such a turnoff to the hispanic community. and i think even to the younger cuban community. >> all right. annette taddeo, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much for joining us on "the ed show." coming up, profiting from a crisis. mitt romney's accused of making millions from the automobile rescue. tonight the united autoworkers are demanding a federal investigation. and five days until the election, former president bill clinton is out on the campaign trail big-time. but where's former president george w. bush? stay tuned. you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc. ♪

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and we are back. we've been telling you about mitt romney's decision to double down on his lies about the automobile industry lately. i mean, he's been ripped by everybody in the media. nobody believes a word the guy says. today the united autoworkers, they decided, you know what, they've just had enough of this. the united autoworkers and the service employees international union and five other groups have filed an ethics complaint against mitt romney. the groups wanted united states

office of government ethics to investigate romney's finances. they say that romney has failed to disclose how much he profited from the automobile rescue. the allegations stem from romney's investment in delphi, a major auto parts supplier for general motors. "the nation" magazine reports ann romney invested at least $1 million in delphi in a blind trust at the height of the financial crisis. the romneys bought stock at bargain basement prices. delphi shares were going for 67 cents a piece before the automobile rescue. today delphi shares closed at $32.53. good for them. it's a 4,000% gain on romney's investment. now, we know the romney family made at least $15.3 million in the wake of the automobile rescue. but we don't know exactly how much romney made because he won't release his 2009 tax return. he won't tell us how much he actually invested.

remember, mitt romney was against the automobile rescue. he wrote this op-ped in "the new york times" saying that we should let detroit go "now we're learning he made at least $15 million off the very policy he opposed. tonight the united autoworkers are demanding the truth. joining me tonight, bob king, president of the united autoworkers. mr. king, good to have you with us tonight. this is -- >> great to be with you, ed. >> you bet. this is about conflict of interest. but what do you think mitt romney allegedly did that was wrong? why have you called for this? >> well, because we're told by our legal department that he violated the government ethics laws and he did not disclose where he's got a conflict of interest, his investments in delphi corporation. it's so hypocritical, as you said, for him to criticize the loan and go in like a vulture capitalist and buy the stock at a low price and extort general

motors, costing the taxpayers more money. he and his friends at the vulture capitalist made as you said 3,000% to 4,000% return on their investment in delphi by holding up general motors and costing the government more money. >> all right. let's talk -- >> costing taxpayers more. >> let's talk about this extort and hold up general motors. now, delphi is critical to the automobile manufacturing business. they, of course, manufacture parts that go into automobiles with general motors that they just couldn't make the vehicles without delphi's assistance. is that correct? >> right. if the parts don't come in, they can't build the cars. >> okay. so what happened here? what did romney's group do that was so terrible? >> well, they bought up the stock at this really low price then they demanded much larger cost per part from general motors. much bigger payments from general motors in order to deliver the parts. at a point, they were willing to force general motors to go into

liquidation. they didn't invest that much, and to get this unbelievable, really i would call it, immoral return, they held up general motors, said if you don't pay us these extra costs then we're not going to deliver the parts. without steering columns and brakes and other parts you can't build a car. >> that, of course, would have halted the automobile rescue and the progress we have seen today. so, in other words, it was after general motors, the automobile industry, got this bailout money, or this loan money, and this is when delphi went to work and this is where mitt romney profited. do i have that correct? >> that's right. that's exactly right. and then cost the taxpayer more money by what he did. >> okay. and now his campaign, as he continues to double down with radio and television ads saying that, you know, he's taking credit for the automobile loan program that actually saved the industry. and i need your reaction because i know that your workers took a haircut. i mean, as far as pension and retirement and health care and

also wages. i mean, uaw stepped up. so how does it boil with you tonight that mitt romney is fry trying to take credit for what was this turnaround? >> well, you know, it bothers us even more. his reckless ads. he's attacking two companies. he's hurting their brand image saying they're moving work to china which is absolutely not true. and he knows it. and the ceo came out and said it. two statements by chrysler corporation. they're expanding jeep production here in the united states. they're spending billions of dollars in every plant that builds jeep products. in toledo, ohio, in belvedere, illinois, in detroit, michigan. they're doubling -- chrysler is doubling down on their investment and creating jobs in america. general motors, which romney claimed is taking a tax dollars to china, they invested $8.5 billion in the united states of america. in michigan, in ohio, in tennessee, all over this country. they're investing, creating jobs, helping us to get out of

the doldrums that we've been in in the economy. the strongest thing in the american economy right now is the automobile industry. and for him to really drive customers away by making these reckless statements is really wrong. he said in the debate, i wouldn't do anything to hurt gm or chrysler. baloney. he's doing it right now. he's telling lies about these -- misinformation and lies about these companies that could potentially drive customers away. costing american jobs and hurting american companies. to me it's outrageous. >> all right. bob king, president of the uaw. great to have you with us on "the ed show" tonight. thanks so much. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. >> the american economy in the next four years will produce 12 million jobs if we do not mess up what president obama has already done. >> the secretary of splainin' stuff is working overtime on the stump as george w. bush keeps an eye on mitt romney's money in

the caymans. the tale of two surrogates next. the guy who joked about rising tides gets heckled on the trail. >> what about climate, that's what caused the monster storm. >> i'll tell you why mitt romney's post-hurricane nightmare isn't getting any better. and it's the story everybody is talking about. >> these nurses carried 20 newborns down 9 flights of stairs while manually operating respirators. i can't even walk nine flights of stairs without a -- >> one of these heroic nurses joins me live on "the ed show" tonight. [ female announcer ] beef, meet flavor boost.

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former president bill clinton on the campaign trail speaking in wackishaw, wisconsin, earlier. president clinton has proven to be the most effective surrogate for president obama or any president for that matter. clinton has held 13 events in 7 states over 4 days drawing crowds in thousands. he was a huge hit in good old fargo, north dakota. using the 40-second president to stump for president obama has been a good strategy. >> bill clinton is always a thrill. he's been one of my favorite presidents. >> we're just five days from election day. what are you feeling? >> excited and very hopeful that we'll have obama continue for four more years. >> so that's the 40-second president, what about the 43rd? george buw. bush isn't stumping. he's in the cayman islands, not welcome news if you're mitt romney and have money stashed

down there. tonight bush is the keynote speaker at something called the cayman alternative investment summit. according to the summit website, institutional investors, private investors, asset allocators, fund managers, academics will benefit from the discussion on the future of the industry. it costs 4,000 bucks to attend. we wish we had more details to share with you, but organizers have been forbidden to disclose the information. in fact, a spokesman for the summit told "the associated press" organizers are forbidden to be talking about any aspect of the speech, even in general terms. quote, we've got a complete blackout on discussing the bush details. gosh, that sounds familiar, doesn't it? those restrictions were imposed by the former president's staff. well, some things never change. this is an admission that the gop brand is, what? it's severely damaged. the republicans don't even have a former president that can effectively campaign for the

republican nominee or the party platform? why? let's turn to michael tomasky, he is a special correspondent for "newsweek" and "the daily beast." great to have you with us tonight, michael. >> pleasure. >> what does it say about the republican party that they just don't have someone of the stature of bill clinton, a former president, to be able to go out and feverishly make the pitch for mitt romney? >> they haven't had good presidents. i mean, ronald reagan, okay, maybe not to me and you, but, you know, to a significant chunk of americans, fine. good president. he died. so since that, they've got the two bushes. one of them was a one-termer. one-termers are not successful. and then the other one was one of the worst presidents in american history who left office with a 25% approval rating. it's not merely that, though, ed, to me. the amazing thing about this story is that he chose to do this. knowing mitt romney's history,

knowing mitt romney's story, his money in the cayman islands, that bush chose to do this five days before an election. amazing. >> we all know that disaster relief isn't exactly george w. bush's forte, but why did he agree to give a speech in the cayman islands, as you say, just a few days before the election? i mean, do you think he really wants romney to win? >> well, you know, i mean, these questions are risie ining in ou minds, aren't they? does chris christie want mitt romney to win? this is something i've been wondering about for a couple days. does george w. bush want mitt romney to win? it's not so clear. and we do know that most of the people who have encountered this guy, a lot of them have come away just not liking him. and you just have to wonder why they're doing this. >> on the other hand, you have got bill clinton who has been so terribly effective for president obama, and no one predicted the storm was going to take that much time away from the

president, but this has been a real asset for the president. >> it has, absolutely. >> so have we ever seen a former president work so hard for someone to get re-elected? >> no. i don't recall it. it's pretty astonishing and when you think of their history, which isn't all milk and honey, it makes it all the more interesting. you know, they had rough times in 2008 when obama was running against hillary clinton, and they both said some pretty tough things about each other, but they know that they need each other and obama obviously needs bill clinton as a validater, so the president who created the most jobs in recent american history, going out and saying in obama's behalf that he can manage the economy is very important to obama. and i think it's good for clinton, too. i think not only in legacy terms, but i think if hillary clinton still has an eye cast toward the white house, i think it's much better for her, it

would be much easier for her in 2016 if obama is re-elected. >> back to the bushes for a moment. jeb bush. let's see. if mitt romney doesn't win, jeb might go for it. jeb bush was out defending his brother on the campaign trail yesterday. here it is. >> president obama was dealt a tough hand. we were told that. we hear this every day almost if you watch tv. you know, and, of course, it's my brother's fault for everything that goes on. it's almost as though the dog ate my homework is the reason why we're going through tough times. >> what are your thoughts on that, michael? >> well, of course, that's what he's going to say, but the fact of the matter is that the financial crisis that we got into was george bush's fault. it was the republican party's fault. sure you can trace some things back to clinton, the deregulation of glass steagall in 1999/2000, but nobody was watching the henhouse when the banks were doing what they were doing under bush. so it is true.

if anything, ed, if anything, i believe that the democrats haven't done enough during this campaign season to draw a direct line between w. and romney and say, these are the policies that created the crisis and romney wants to enact exactly these policies. repeal dodd/frank and lower tax cuts on rich people which is exactly what got us into the problem in the first place. i think democrats haven't done that quite enough. >> i think if mitt romney had been a candidate of more definition, where he absolutely took a stand on topic "a," "b," and "c" and maybe if they were starting to gain ground with voters and independent voters, maybe they would have used bush to connect him to the hip in that regard. kind of looks like they haven't had to. mike tomasky, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. coming up, in the aftermath of hurricane sandy, climate change gets its moment in the political spotlight. and with renewed interest in the candidates' environmental

policies, president obama gets a surprising endorsement. stay tuned.

up next, hurricane sandy brings the climate change discussion to the forefront of the presidential campaign and has new york city mayor michael bloomberg endorsing president obama. and in the "big finish" tonight the east coast is still recovering from hurricane sandy and new stories of heroism are emerging. i'll talk with a paramedic nurse who had quite an experience. don't forget, you can listen to my radio show on sirius xm radio channel 127 monday through friday noon to 3:00 p.m. follow me on twitter @edshow and on facebook and like "the ed show." duralock power preserve. locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. now...guaranteed. duracell with duralock. trusted everywhere. he loves risk. but whether he's climbing everest,

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every school. for them. for all of us. vote yes on thirty-eight. this year's presidential debate cycle was the first since 1988 in which candidates or moderators failed to directly address the issue of climate change. i guess they just didn't get around to it. now just days before the

election, hurricane sandy has brought climate change to the forefront of this race. now we're talking about it. today new york city mayor michael bloomberg endorsed president obama for re-election citing climate change as the deciding factor. the mayor, an independent who refused to endorse any candidate in 2008 said in the aftermath of hurricane sandy the obama administration's efforts to address environmental issues proved more important than ever. and he went on to say, when i step into the voting booth i think about the world i want to leave my two daughters and the values that are required to guide us there. the two party nominees for president offer different vision on where they want to lead america. one sees climate change as an urgent problem that threatens our planet. one does not. i want our president to place scientific evidence at risk management above electoral politics." if you want to see what putting electoral politics over scientific evidence and risk management looks like, here it is.

>> what about climate? that's what caused this monster storm. climate change. >> once again, mitt romney doesn't say a word because in conservative crowds the science of climate change is just too controversial. climate change is something that you can just heckle right on out of the room. it's not connected to floods or fires or devastation we saw this week or the millions of americans left stranded homeless or without power. it's just the republican way. it's just something to laugh f off, you know? tonight in our survey, i asked who do you trust to work with the other side? 98% of you said president obama. 2% of you say mitt romney. up next, hurricane sandy forced two major new york city

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i've never experienced a war. i think i'm in survival mode. >> monday night was probably the most terrifying night of my life, hearing the transformers explo exploding, the car alarms dying. just an incredibly eery sound, and the smells coming in. >> people need places to live. they need clothes, they need food, they need shelter. you're going to have the children going to school? how are they going there? how are you getting the kids in the shelters to the schools they have to go to? >> people's lives disrupted due to the devastating effects of hurricane sandy. at this hour, over 2 million customers are still without power. 92 deaths have been caused by the storm including 38 here in the city of new york. damage is widespread and the road to recovery could take a long time for many communities in the region. there's no doubt hurricane sandy has many people in need of assistance. they need water, food, and clothes among other things. and there's a number of ways to help. you can visit fema.gov and click

on volunteer and donate to find ways to donate to specific states in need of help. you can also visit redcross.org and click on "donate funds" to give to any red cross chapter. hurricane sandy has also caused a blood shortage because of blood drive cancelations. to find out where you can donate blood, visit redcrossblood.org. meanwhile, the storm has forced two major new york city hospitals to evacuate. backup generators failed at bellevue hospital and nyu langone medical center. hundreds of patients had to evacuate including patients in critical condition and 20 babies from the intensive care unit. doctors described the evacuations as labor intensive and extremely difficult. joining me tonight is a hero, a nurse. laurie, one of the hero nurses who helped evacuate premature and sick babies when nyu's

langone hospital lost power during hurricane sandy. did you kind of -- great to have you with us tonight. congratulations on what you did. you've done your profession and your life proud in many, many ways. when this was all unfolding, did you have a sense that it was going to get as bad as it did. >> we initially didn't. we had made many preparations to have our nursing staff as well as physicians on site in order to facility the most safe care, but we didn't have any idea the extent that the damage would cause. >> what did you go through, lori? what happened? >> i work on a unit that take care of babies that have heart disease or had heart surgery. we had seven babies who were critical patients who were not able to be removed from the hospital. >> did you think at any time that maybe some of them aren't going to make it? >> there was never a point that i thought that. we were all very nervous and concerned for the safety of our patients, but i really am so proud of my nyu co-workers, the

nurses, nurse practitioners and physicians. they really came together to ensure this evacuation was safe and effective to make all of our patients comfortable. >> and this was in the darkness of night, in the building. >> the stairwells were not well lit. there were no lights. however, there were volunteers on every floor as well as ourselves carrying flashlights down the stairs in order to make it safe to get down the floors with the babies. >> have you ever trained for something like this. >> we did have an evacuation last year with hurricane irene but in that case we had elevators. this was a new experience for all of us. we came together nicely. >> the word circled around the hospital quickly that the backup generator was getting close. >> we actually were so focused on patient care at that point there was no way for us to ascertain what was going on in the rest of the hospital. we were making all measures to ensure even if we didn't have power that the babies would be safely taken care of. so we were just really focused on getting the patients safe in

the hospital then once we learned we were evacuating getting the patients out safely. >> how about the patients that weren't babies that were moved? how nervous were they? what were they saying? how were they handling it? >> i was really impressed not only by the nyu staff but the nyu patients. these were all patients we made the determination they were sick enough they needed to remain in the hospital. these patients were being evacuated in med sleds which is a canoe you put the patient into and strap them in. as i was walking up and down the stairs the patients were smiling at me and thanking me. people came together and made the patients comfortable and were carrying the patients down the stairs. >> kind of renews your faith in the human spirit, doesn't it? >> i was beyond impressed with all of my co-workers. it was a night that i felt just so very proud of nursing as well as the profession of medicine in general that they were able to come together and accomplish this enormous feat and in a very safe way. >> and the sick baby. tell us about that. >> i carried down an infant with

a physician. the physician carried the baby. these babies were not able to breathe on their own. they had a breathing tube in their throat. i secured the breathing tube in their throat as well as provided manual breaths using a bag that allows us to give air and oxygen into the baby's lungs. the two of us walked in unison down the stairs with me leaning on the doctor's shoulders and he -- >> how many floors are we talking? >> we're talking 15 floors. 15 floors with the two of us. >> that's amazing. absolutely amazing. you have done your profession and your life very proud. >> thank you. >> the country needs to hear this story. congratulations. >> thank you. >> lori, thanks so much for joining us tonight. >> thank you for having me. and a programming night, tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. the networks of nbc will air "hurricane sandy: coming together," a benefit concert and telethon to aid the victims of the storm. the event will be hosted by matt lauer and headlined by new jersey natives bruce